When I’m asked about homeschooling – especially with younger children – a “lifestyle of learning” is generally at the root of my response.  I believe in teaching through “natural” means, and de-emphasizing “school at home,” whenever possible.

Sometimes people either a) don’t know how to do this, or b) don’t realize they already are doing this, so as we encounter them through our days, I’m going to try to remember to share some examples.

Learning with Matchbox Cars

My first example is Matchbox-style cars.  My little girls love these!  And they offer ample opportunities for early learning.  Now, Livia is a bit young to really “get” any of these lessons yet, but I can still talk about them while I sit and play with her, and she will eventually start to pick them up and join in, and I can challenge her more directly, rather than simply demonstrating for her.  Consider:

Color Recognition

Look, Livia, this car is green.  This one is green, too.  This one is orange.  (When she’s a little older, I could ask her, “Can you find another orange car?”)

Sorting

Mama put all of the red cars together.  And here are all the blue ones.  These are all black.  -OR- Let’s put all the trucks together.  Now, can you find all the flat cars?

Counting

See, now all of the red cars are together.  Can you count them?  One, two…

Size

If, as we do, you have various sizes of cars (not just the Matchbox/Hot Wheels type), you can work with size, too.  Look, Livia, here is a big car…and here is a small car.  What about these (show another pair)?  Which one is big?  Which one is small?

You don’t have to string these all together like this as a huge sit-down lesson (‘though you can if that’s your goal).  Just casually work with one or two while you’re already playing.  Then, after a few minutes, you can leave it alone and go back to “just” play, repeating the process another time.  Your child will probably never even know that you did “school.” 😉

Photo by pdsimao, from stock.xchg